The Hidden Grave (Harriet Harper Thriller Book 2) by Dominika Best

Author:Dominika Best [Best, Dominika]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dupin Press
Published: 2020-02-26T06:00:00+00:00

18

Day 5 - Afternoon

An hour had passed and Harri Harper hadn’t made much progress on the missing kids database. By now, Jake Tepesky had joined her and neither of them had found even one boy that matched the boys in the photo.

Dr. Brand arrived about half an hour after Jake had sat down in a plushy chair. Her dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she carried maps and a stack of books.

“Thank you so much for meeting with us, Dr. Brand,” Harri said. “May I get you a cup of coffee?”

“I'm too caffeinated as it is but thank you,” Dr. Brand said.

“Was the photograph at a high enough resolution for you?” Harri asked. She had emailed Dr. Brand the scanned photograph asking her if Robbie the botanist could identify the trees in the background of the photo to give them an area the camp might have been in.

“It was at a high enough resolution. I sent it off to Robbie and he told me he’d get back to me by end of today,” she said. “Meanwhile I’ve begun a search through records to see if there was anyone granted permission to run a camp in any of the national forests. I'm at the beginning of my search, but I've been able to find three camps that were operating in the early 90s on borrowed land from the National Forest Service,” she said.

“Were any of these camps in the Willamette Forest?” Harri asked as she beamed at the woman. She hadn't expected Dr. Brand to work so quickly.

“There were two camps in that forest in the 90s.”

“Could this camp be one of those?” Jake asked.

“Not necessarily. I broadened my search to any camps in the 80s. Camps could have been operational in ‘94 or ‘95, but the records would likely show the land deal in the 80s. Once the land was released for the deal then the new owner could start building on it.”

“Did you see anything in the photo that might indicate where the picture was taken?” Jake asked.

“The trees are pretty standard for Oregon. I’m a geologist, though and this isn’t my area of expertise. Even the ground cover is hard to read. I can’t really identify the grass, either. Any movement on identifying the kids in this photo?” she asked.

“We’re still working on that. We’ve been searching through missing kids databases and have come up empty.”

“If you found the photo, doesn’t that mean the boys survived the camp?” Dr. Brand asked.

Harri and Jake discussed that option briefly. Chris Becker had returned home after the camp, clearly emotionally and mentally damaged. The other boys could have, as well.

Where were they now though?

The issue that niggled at her was how come none of those men seemed to have come forward about the abuse they’d suffered as children.

Could that be due to shame? She’d read about the numerous other child abuse scandals within religious and sports organizations. She understood the desire for the victims to forget and try to go on with their lives.

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